Philemon stewart



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILEMON STEWART, OF NEV LEBANON, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR TOv AUGHAMPAUGHBROTHERS, OF SAME PLACE. f

CAST-IRON FENCE-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,140, dated March 1, 1859.

To all whom it may concern: p

Be it known that I, PHILEMON STEWART, of New Lebanon, in the county ofColumbia and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cast- Iron Fence-Posts; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and eXact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l, represents aperspective view of said felice post. F ig. 2, represents a front viewof the same. Fig. 3, represents a horizontal cross section through thesame.

The nature of my invention consists in a cast iron fence post, as anarticle of manufacture that will protect the ends of the fence rails,which are secured to the fence posts by projecting ianges of such aconstruction as to both give the rails a firm vertical support, as wellas to `prevent any moisture from reaching and rotting said ends.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

The fence post represented in Fig. l, is made of cast iron and formedwith ribs ci, c, d, as shown in the cross section Fig. 3, to give it therequired strength, and to make it suiliciently light for transportation.

The pot A, is either cast to the post or is secured to it by a tenon ofthe post passing through a'mortise of the foot, which tenon may besidesbe secured by a counterwedge.

g, represents ledges which are formed on the faces of the ribs a, andwhich are intended to support the ends of the rails, which arerepresented in red lines, in Figs. 2, and 3.

i, and m, `represent projecting flanges which are formed on the ribs ci,b, and d; the flanges m, are vert-ical to come against the sides of therail, while the flanges t, are intended to cover the tops of the railends. The rail is fastened to the post by means of spikes, pins, screwsor bolts, which are passed through the holes 0, and are driven into orthrough the rail. Thus it will be seen that when the rail is properlysecured to this post, its ends will be efl'ectually protected againstany moisture, as the rib (a and flange m, protect the sides and theflange 7L., the top `of the rail. It is a well known fact that woodexposed to moisture in the atmospheric air, will decay fast where thefibers are cut crosswise, as the moisture can then easily enter thegrain of the wood. IVhen, therefore the ends of the rails are protectedagainst moisture the rail will last al considerable time longer thanwhere its ends are exposed to moisture.

The projections g', afford not only a firm vertical support to therails, but 'they prevent the weight from coming upon the pin or boltthat holds them, and thus prevent the ends of the rails from splitting.Portions of the ribs of the post may be cast in open work, to savemetal. I thus make a cheap, light, strong, and very durable cast ironfence post.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, what I claimtherein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent as a new articleof manufacture, is-

A cast iron fence post constructed with flanges to protect the ends ofthe fence rails, against being split as well as against moisture andsubstantially in the manner herein described.

IIAIILEMON STEW'ART.

Witnesses:

H. C. BULL, BENJAMIN Grains.

